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Fast-paced and fun, with a serious message underneath the ever-present champagne that love matters more than fame or fortune--the dilemmas that actress Amy Adams faces in her role as seemingly ditzy Delysia Lafosse. Frances McDormand (one of my favorite actresses), as Guinevere Pettigrew, tartly guides Delysia through a romp of choosing among three different men against a background of gathering war clouds for WW II. Along the way, Guinevere surmounts her fears of long-term unemployment and her double-edged trait of (usually) speaking the truth. There's a funny scene where she misunderstands her agency employer's comment of "difficult" to apply to the alcoholic lady of the house, not herself, and argues that she'd be willing to try the job again if the lady would stop her "fondness for sherry". Spoiler: At the end, simply by being herself, she finds love once again.

Marvelously acted romantic comedy with wonderful turns by Francis Mc Dormand who is great in any role she plays, and Amy Adams always a delight. The authenticity of the era of the 1930's is captured in all it's splendor, and the story moves along nicely and provides the viewer with a fun experience.

A silly and insipid British farce that wastes the talents of Frances McDormand and has Amy Adams acting her part as if she were trying to channel Marilyn Monroe. 30 minutes was all I could take of this forgettable wannabe comedy.

Quotes

Guinevere Pettigrew: I'm afraid I walked in on your guest in his state of nature. I fear that I have outraged his sense of propriety.
Delysia: Oh no, Phil doesn't have one of those.
Guinevere Pettigrew: He's a much bigger boy than I had anticipated.
Delysia: [giggles] Oh you noticed that too.

Guinevere Pettigrew: Mrs. Brummegen was, well, fond of the sherry, if you take my meaning. As a vicar's daughter I found her rather difficult.
Miss Holt: She found you rather difficult, Miss Pettigrew, and that is, I'm afraid, a recurring theme.
Guinevere Pettigrew: A person can change.
Miss Holt: I haven't seen any sign of that.
Guinevere Pettigrew: She could stop drinking.
Miss Holt: ...Our clients don't adapt to suit your needs, Miss Pettigrew. You adapt to them.

Joe Blumfield: Are you all right?
Guinevere Pettigrew: Yes. Well, to take another woman's escort.
Joe Blumfield: You didn't take me. I took you. I'm sure Edythe can cope. What happened to that particularly beautiful scarf you were wearing at the fashion show?
Guinevere Pettigrew: What are you talking about?
Joe Blumfield: Despite your most elegant transformation, the body is still the same.
Guinevere Pettigrew: Mr. Blumfield!
Joe Blumfield: As are the eyes. Most fetching if I may say.

Joe Blumfield: I've been looking for you all night, and I believe, all of my life. If you'll have me.

Delysia: We're going to war, aren't we?
Guinevere Pettigrew: Yes we are. And that is why you must not waste a second of this precious life. Listen to me. Once I too had ambitions. Not your grand ones, simple ambitions. Marriage, children and a house of our own. He died, in the mud in France. A good, solid man. You would call him dull, no doubt, but he smiled whenever he saw me and we could've built a life on that. Your heart knows the truth, Delysia. Trust it.

Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse.